


From Canada to Chicago to Corus.

by Opalgirl



Category: Provost's Dog - Pierce, due South
Genre: Crack, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-14
Updated: 2010-03-14
Packaged: 2017-10-09 03:51:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/82722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Opalgirl/pseuds/Opalgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Benton Fraser of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police spontaneously drops into Corus's Lower City and is noticed by Beka Cooper and her partner. Crossover, complete crack fic, and tiny, almost minuscule Bloodhound spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Canada to Chicago to Corus.

"Cooper," Tunstall said, and gestured down to the square where a clearly confused cove in a red tunic and a ridiculous hat stood, a large white dog at his heels.

I looked. "He looks as if he's lost; that or just stumbled out of the tavern."

My new partner shook his head, obviously thinking. "No tavern lout has clothes like that. We had best make ourselves useful. Be on your guard."

When we approached, batons close at hand, the cove looked up and removed his hat. "Excuse me," he said, speaking in a clear, well-educated voice. He was no noble, but he sounded like one. "Can you tell me where I am?"

I kept myself from giggling and did not look at Tunstall, who was hiding his grin in his sleeve. He had no weapons at hand, except for something metal and polished in a sheath at his side. It had no edge, so it wasn't a blade. What was it? I wondered.

The great white dog growled and barked at Tunstall. Achoo, standing by my side, made no move, but her muscles did tense.

The cove sighed. "Diefenbaker, _behave_." 

At those two words, the dog trotted in a circle around his master and sat down on the stones of the square, looking for all the world as if he was sulking.

"You lost, master?" Tunstall asked, having gotten himself under control.

"Yes, you could say that," the cove said, nodding. "I haven't any idea where I am, sir, so if you could help…"

Tunstall and I both blinked. Sir? Did he think Tunstall was some noble?

I straightened my shoulders, as Tunstall spoke. “I’m Senior Dog Tunstall, and this is my partner, Guardswoman Cooper. You are, master?”

His shoulders went back and the dog got up to stand by his side once more. "Constable Benton Fraser, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, sir." He extended his hand to Tunstall, and then to me. 

"The what?" Tunstall asked what I was thinking.

"Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Mounties?" he said and frowned as we shook our heads.

"Where'd you come from?" Tunstall queried, looking over his shoulder to see that someone wasn't about to sneak up on us. Achoo would let off an alert, but it didn't do for us to get comfortable. Goodwin would have both our heads.

"Canada." When we only looked at him, he added, "up north?" sounding a bit desperate.

I blinked and pieced my thoughts together. "Up north. You mean Scanra, then?"

"Scanra?" He struggled with the word, having obviously never heard it before. The poor cove looked as lost as he had not a minute ago and I sighed. It would have been easy to give him up for drink or drugs, but he didn't speak like he'd been drinking.

"It's to the north. You're in Corus. Capital of Tortall," I supplied, and the confusion didn't lift from his face.

"_Oh, dear_. I'm sorry, ma'am."

I frowned at him, grip shifting on my baton out of habit. "What did you call me?"

"Ma'am. It's how a woman is addressed where I come from – by anyone who has manners."

"Oh." I nodded, and the mysterious red-wearing cove escaped my mind as two sharp whistle blasts sounded. Tunstall was off and running in an instant, and I followed, my baton fully in my hand now. I fumbled with my own whistle as we ran, weaving through the crowds.

Achoo was on Tunstall's heels, running easily behind him, and I swore I saw a flash of red out of the corner of my eye.

After breaking up a large brawl which had overcome the lone pair trying to break it up, we caught our breath for just a moment, in a narrow alley.

"Sir? Ma'am – err, I mean, Guardswoman?" 

I very nearly knocked the looby over with a baton hit to the gut before I realized who it was. The strange one in the red tunic. "Goddess!" I shouted, and his dog growled at me. "You sarden looby. Don't sneak up on people."

He looked only more confused than ever and I exhaled, wiping my mouth with my sleeve. 

The white dog was still growling and I glared at it and its master.

"Dief," the man said and the dog ignored him. 

Instead, the white beast circled around me to sniff at Achoo, who whined and stayed where she was. Then Pounce hopped down from a crate, nearly invisible in the dark.

My cat meowed at the odd man, then at the dog. The white dog sniffed at Pounce, whined, and proceeded to thump my legs with his tail. My cat merely sat there, his tail switching on the ground.

"God." Red Tunic said, upon seeing Pounce's eyes. "That's… unusual."

I shook my head and sighed. "How'd you catch up with us?" I noticed for the first time that he wore badges and insignia on his tunic, like a military man would.

"I'm a police officer, in my world," he explained, fingering the shiny metal at his hip. "We're a bit alike, Guardswoman Cooper."

I snorted, and then remembered myself. "What did you say your name was again?"

He smiled. "Constable Fraser, Royal Canadian Mounted Police."

He didn't _seem_ mad. And I knew it wouldn't do to leave a man who didn't know where he was alone in the city. I looked at Tunstall, who shrugged his large shoulders and stretched. 

"If you get underfoot, Constable," my partner said, "you'll get hurt. Stay out of the way."

"Yes, sir." The man nodded quickly, and adjusted his hat. 

"And, for the sake of the gods, control the dog."

Master Red Tunic looked down at the dog, who whined. "I can try, sir. He's deaf."

_Deaf?_ I blinked. "He can't hear, then?"

"No, ma'am, I'm afraid not."

Tunstall sighed. "Come on, Cooper. Constable?"

"Yes. Thank you kindly." The looby tilted his hat and followed us as we set off.

I kept my position at Tunstall's side – we didn't work quite as well together as he and Goodwin had, yet – and glanced back at our follower. "What's the dog's name?"

"Diefenbaker. And yours, ma'am?"

"Achoo. She's a scent hound."

"I see." He smiled at my hound's name and reached down to scratch Achoo's side.

***

  
"Dief." The words were out of Red Tunic's mouth just as soon as his dog jumped up to rest his paws on my thigh. "_Diefenbaker_. Off."

Diefenbaker – which is a rather odd name for a dog - ignored his master and stared at the pasty in my hand, his tail wagging eagerly. He looked at me with his ears pricked forward and whined, sounding for all the world as if he were starved.

"Get off," I said clearly, and to my surprise, the white dog obeyed. I blinked, startled, and slipped the creature a piece of my snack anyway. 

He was certainly handsome, the dog, and well-cared for. Even if he didn't listen some of the time, as his master claimed. Even Pounce didn't listen to me. My cat twined about my feet, content.

"_The dog_," Pounce meowed, "_… may be deaf, but he understands. He listens when he chooses to._"

I snorted. "Sounds like someone else I know," I muttered, disgusted with the sarden constellation of a cat. 

Tunstall hid his grin and Red Tunic said nothing. I sighed and tapped my fingers on the butt end of my baton, restless. "Was it mage work, then?" I asked, and Red Tunic – _Fraser_ – looked at me, confused.

"Pardon me, ma'am?"

I _never_ heard a cove so polite. "As how you got here – was it mage done? Folk just don't drop into the city not knowing where they are."

He removed the silly flat-brimmed hat from his head and tucked it under his arm. "I'm afraid I don't know, ma'am."

At least he was honest. I shrugged and tucked my handkerchief back into my tunic and adjusted my belt. Whoever – whatever – he was, he was here. Even if folk did look at him funny.


End file.
